HEBREW LETTER: Daleth, door, gate; especially the yoni as Gate of Life. Greek Delta is a triangle, with all it implies.

CARD NAME: Empress (a form of “emperor” specifically chosen to convey a feminine idea) from Latin imperatrix, imperare, “command.” The Indo-European root for “priest/priestess” has exactly the same spelling and sound as that for “emperor/empress,” though they are different words: per, which in this other form means, “to produce” or “to procure.”

ESOTERIC MEANING: The Luminous Consciousness. It is the substance of that speaking silence (or brilliant flame) that is the instructor in the Secret Foundations of Holiness and of their (stages of) preparation.

TREE of LIFE: Binah to Chokmah. (Links ‘Understanding’ and ‘Wisdom’; or Intuition with Infinite Will, Neshamah with Chiah; or ‘the Mother’ with ‘the Father,’ the stream of life flowing into the matrix-womb of its material manifestation. Creative force operating in the field of unconsciousness.)

"To advance—that means Work. Patient, exhausting, thankless, often bewildering Work. Dear sister, if you would but Work! Work blindly, foolishly, misguidedly, it doesn’t matter in the end: Work in itself has absolute virtue." -Magick Without Tears

She is fertility, the matrix of creativity, and the magical imagination. She represents the door through which life and light flow like electricity magnetically induced. Her sphere is all rose and blue--lovely yet deep, gentle but unwavering in her devotion. Her lily staff could not be more upright or phallic, and her posture while reposed is not obviously receptive, other than the arm outstretched ready to cradle some new life (while still comfortably seated on her thone). She is energetic and vibrant like the tide, there is no passivity here, although she is quiet. The cross and sphere at her crown suggest the composition and formulation of the matter the Emperor later holds in hand. She often represents some matriarch, frequently revealing issues with one's feminine side (or mother), especially for males, and might suggest some emergence into adult womanhood (sometimes motherhood) for female querents.

"But all we say and do, however casually, adds up to more, far more, than our most strenuous Operations. 'Take care of the pence, and the pounds will take care of themselves.'" - Commentaries of AL

She is ready,All the provisions are here at hand,She's offering a seat at her tableA place in her bedFor someone who'll followThe rules of the roleAnd when the order comesFrom a voice so honey sweetWhat fool could failTo fall to his feet?Who could be so meanAs to refuse the Sweetness of her cup?